Five essentials for measuring mental wellbeing in the workplace

Keywords: mentalhealth, strategy, measurement, efficacy

Date: 12 September 2024, WorkLife Digital

Mental wellbeing is integral to so many areas related to overall business resilience and performance. If left unaddressed, poor mental health can lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and higher turnover rates. However, despite its importance, mental health initiatives are often measured sporadically and lack strategic focus eg. tracking certain metrics like engagement, but often failing to assess more nuanced factors like resilience and leadership.

In some organisations, the wellbeing of employees is tracked only through basic metrics or short-term interventions, like wellness surveys or brief mental health workshops. While helpful in the short term, these initiatives often fail to create long-lasting improvements without a broader, strategically aligned system in place. This lack of structured measurement leaves room for errors in determining the root cause of wellbeing challenges.

For employers to demonstrate the value of mental health investments, they need to adopt a more disciplined approach to tracking and improving employee wellbeing. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how organisations can systematise this process:

1. Align mental wellbeing metrics with organisational strategy

The first step in building a wellbeing measurement system is aligning mental health initiatives with the broader goals of the organisation. Mental wellbeing should be framed not as a peripheral concern but as a strategic priority. When leadership endorses specific mental health metrics, it sends a strong message to employees that their mental wellbeing is essential to the company’s success.

For instance, an organisation might set a goal to improve employee retention. One approach would be to implement wellbeing initiatives that reduce burnout and stress, directly contributing to that strategic goal. Once the alignment is clear, measuring outcomes like resilience or job satisfaction in a more continuous, structured way becomes easier.

2. Go beyond surface-level metrics

Just as effective marketing performance systems focus on more than just immediate sales, wellbeing strategies need to measure outcomes beyond short-term productivity gains or the number of sick days taken. Organisations should capture more complex metrics, such as long-term employee engagement, emotional resilience, or the perceived effectiveness of mental health resources.

Financial metrics alone cannot capture the full picture of mental health outcomes. In the same way that marketing is tasked with shaping brand equity and customer loyalty, employers should focus on shaping a healthier, more supportive workplace culture. For example, measuring the sense of psychological safety, where employees feel comfortable speaking up without fear of repercussions, can provide deeper insights into the workplace environment.

3. Establish cause and effect between wellbeing interventions and outcomes

A common challenge in wellbeing measurement is ensuring that the metrics are interconnected and support each other. When one aspect of wellbeing improves, such as reducing burnout, it should logically impact other metrics like overall employee engagement or job satisfaction. The cause-and-effect relationships between wellbeing metrics help ensure that the system is working in harmony.

Testing these relationships is crucial. A large company might roll out a new initiative to reduce employee stress, but how will they measure its impact? A structured testing period is essential. Through controlled analysis, companies can determine whether these interventions are translating into tangible improvements in mental health and, in turn, in employee performance.

4. Use triangulation to validate data

In the same way that marketing professionals use triangulation to verify metrics, employers should validate mental health data through multiple sources. One source might be an anonymous wellbeing survey, but this should be supported by other metrics, such as direct feedback from managers or tracking absenteeism and turnover rates.

Having two or more data points that support the same conclusion builds confidence in the results. For example, if employees report feeling more engaged after the introduction of mindfulness programs, and the company simultaneously observes a decrease in stress-related absences, it indicates the effectiveness of the program.

5. Avoid vanity metrics—focus on what matters

Vanity metrics, which may look impressive but offer little actionable insight, can undermine efforts to improve mental wellbeing. Tracking how many employees attend a wellness seminar, for example, might look good on paper, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect improved mental health outcomes.

Organisations need to be wary of these distractions and focus on “sanity metrics”—those that genuinely reflect the impact of wellbeing programs. For instance, measuring long-term improvements in stress resilience or tracking how supported employees feel could offer more meaningful insights. True success isn’t about participation rates; it's about whether employees genuinely benefit from the programs offered.

Creating a comprehensive mental wellbeing strategy

To truly drive long-term improvements, organisations need a mental wellbeing strategy that’s integrated into the company culture and aligned with business objectives. Such a strategy should allow for continuous measurement, refinement, and improvement. Leadership must commit to these initiatives and be open to refining their approach based on data.

Investing in a structured system of wellbeing metrics will provide employers with the insights they need to make meaningful improvements. It will also help foster a healthier workplace culture, improve employee retention, and contribute to overall business success.

Ultimately, measuring mental wellbeing shouldn’t be treated as a one-off task. Instead, it should be woven into the fabric of the organisation, supporting continuous improvement and ensuring that both employees and the company as a whole thrive in the long term. By following the steps outlined here—aligning metrics with strategy, looking beyond surface-level indicators, establishing cause and effect, triangulating data, and avoiding vanity metrics—employers can create impactful and sustainable mental wellbeing strategies.

WorkLife Digital is a global mental-wellbeing consultancy driven by the mission to improve the sustainability of businesses. Our psychological wellbeing tool, Worklife Quotient (WL-Q), is modelled on cutting-edge scientific research and provides organisation-wide measurement and intelligence on the mental wellbeing levels and psychological resilience of staff. WL-Q also assesses the impact of organisational practices (i.e. people and culture, leadership styles, organisational purpose and values, social impact) that have a direct influence on staff wellbeing and provides strategic recommendations on addressing risks and promoting strengths.

For more information, get in touch at lisa@worklife.digital